Happy Birthday To the Love Of My Life

Happy birthday Gavini!!! 

How time flies...our one year together has been the greatest happiest funniest bestest time of my life :)

I hope you get well soon and I hope we made you happy today :)

I made a birthday cake most especially for you :)

Thank you to Carlyle and Isla :)

Thank you for all of the gifts guys :)

Hope you had fun in our Project Pie Lunch :)

Hope you had a blast riding th carousel, choo choo train and cars at the mall!

I do hope that you enjoyed the kiddie barber shop in spite of the tears xxx

Super gwapo hair naman after :)

Hope you had a great dinner w us :) I cooked the steak, ribs and pasta just for you!!!

I love you Gavin ... Hope we made your day extra special :)

One Day To Go

Allow me to be a bit senti as this time last year, I knew that I will already go to the hospital and give birth the following day.  I was already 3 cms dilated since 3 days ago and I was having regular contractions.

I ate at the Petron gas station before hitting the hospital because for sure, no food intake when they confine me.  I arrived around 5pm and by 6pm, I was 4cms already.  I thought it was going to be a fast labor, but ended up being in labor for 14 hours.  As you know, I ended up delivering Gavin via CS at 9:43am on April 25, 2014.  I don't remember hearing him cry or seeing him because I was knocked off by anesthesia, but it was kissing him in the photos :)

So here we are now, one day to go till the big day.

Bulilit is sick w fever and inflamed gums since 3 days ago.

I really hope he gains his appetite back and feels better in time for his birthday.

Please say a prayer for him, hope he gets better na and hope we have more teeth by tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter folks!

With Jesus' resurrection and the promise of new life brings renewed hope and faith in The Lord.

And with Easter comes egg hunting and bunnies.

We woke up early to join Rockwell's Easter kiddie party at the tent at 9am.

My sisters Monica and Marielle, as well as Tita Belen and Yum joined us.

They had different game booths at the entrance.

They give you a water pail as your loot bag sa start pa Lang :)

As you enter, you will be entertained by a magic show, a puppet show and a lot more.

Dati, hate ko ang Easter egg hunting because I always ended up with no eggs.

Puro yaya ang kumukuha.

Rockwell's was organized with different batches of ten kids per hunt.

However, since Gavin was still quite small, they just placed the eggs in front of him.

Siyempre, family effort. Marielle hand painted he design your own bag for Gavin.

Isn't this the cutest?

We went to the mall afterwards since bulilit can't participate pa naman.

He had fun playing with toys at Baby & Co, but we didn't buy anything, haha.

In the afternoon, we went to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Easter party at Aura.

Sobrang daming Tao.  It was so hot and crowded.

The hunt was inside a giant inflatable and the line was so long.

Very bad idea talaga to even get tickets for that.

Since sayang naman ang ticket, we left after Gavin and I won a the bring me game for bring a pencil... indeed up bringing my eyebrow pencil!

In spite of the big crowd, he was still quite excited to seeing Mickey on the big LED screen.

We also joined my folks for an Easter dinner at the Todd English Food Hall.

Gavin loved their flatbread pizza. 

Hope everyone had a fab Holy Week!

Ours was extra special because it was our first...together.

2014 Holy Week

Our family went on a South Luzon road trip for our Annual Visita Iglesia.

Of course, the bambino was with us.

We fist visited the scenic Lipa Basilica of San Sebastián that had the loveliest ceiling and plaza.

Traffic around Lipa was terrible that Thursday with the onslaught of people visiting the churches.

We visited Carmel Church next to pay respects to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces.

I remember visiting Carmel 20+ years ago and glad that I'm visiting it now with Gavin as I've always pray to the Lady ever since.

My best friend, Babits, whose family has a devotion to Carmel and has continually visited her church every first Saturday recommended that we eat at Lipa Grille. Super puno so we had to eat outside at the place without aircon.  Food was great, but the scorching heat made it really unbearable to stay any longer.

We made a pit stop at the Benedictine Monastery in Lipa too.  It reminded me of the time that I was studying in St. Scho with the Ora et Labora belief which was in the statue at their entrance.

After Lipa, we travelled for half an hour to reach the heritage town of Taal.

We went to Our Lady of Casaysay first.

They say that local Fishermen caught the statue of Our Lady in the water while fishing.  It was also believed that her small statue may have been dropped by one of the capsized Chinese vessels in the 1600s when there was a strong Chinese trade in Batangas. 

It is believed that the spring water near the chapel, where the statue was apparently found, is miraculous.  We walked to visit the site as well.  My dad can't help but wash Gavin's head with the water.  Super init kasi....plus also to bless Gavin's first Visita Iglesia.

The last church that we visited was the majestic Taal Basilica.  This is the biggest church in Asia.

The altar is made up of gold and silver.  It has the longest aisle and the most beautiful ceiling treatment that I ever saw in the Philippines.

It looks like a Roman Church, really :)

The trip was all the more special because my Lola, Tita Belen, her special someone, My cousin Yum and Tito George joined us.

Even the outside facade was beautiful.

I'm really glad that we did his road trip.  It made me appreciate old local churches more and it also opened my eyes to the different local beliefs of faith :)

Currently Loving

The little man is currently loving his cheapipay plastic mic, my ipad mini and playground slides.

4 days to go till his big day :)

Little Steps

Dear Gavin,

Thank you for bringing so much joy in our lives.  

Your always give us the biggest smile that makes our hearts melt.

There are times like today that I want to freeze the moment and capture your infectious laughter, your big bright twinkling eyes and your face of amazement in discovering new things. 

I know that soon, there will be many new things in your life, but I will always remember the simple things you and I shared for the first time.

You walked on sand yesterday and your chubby little feet had he greatest time feeling the sand on your toes.  You even climb the tree next to where you were standing without any fear or hesitation.  

You also spent Sunday afternoon swimming in the pool.  You somehow discovered the wet rocks on the wall and kept on touching it with your bare hands and feet.  They told me that you might hurt your skin when you keep on touching it, but I just let you be.  It's always a great day when you discover new textures, new experiences ... and sometimes, getting hurt is part of package. 

Tonight, you walked and walked and walked on the grass on your socks until the socks came off already.  You loved the grass on your feet.  You fell A LOT of times, but you just kept on standing up and getting right back on doing your business of walking.  

I was amazed to see your joy whenever you found yourself walking without any help and assistance.  Everytime you took a step or two alone, you flashed us the biggest smile across the field.  

Super Saya Gavin!!! I'm so proud of you today :) 

You didn't let anyone get in your way, you just tried and tried, got up from falling again and again and found yourself walking 4-5 more steps alone.  Hard work always pays off, anak! 

Weekends are all the more special because of you XXX

Mom